… This report examines public opinion in Michigan and Pennsylvania on a series of issues concerning the impact of fracking on the economy, environmental protection, and information disclosure. Pennsylvania and Michigan have been selected as the focus of this report because they represent states with varied levels of hydraulic fracturing [...] Read more »
Not Your Grandfather’s Pennsylvania Anymore
When asked to describe Pennsylvania, Washington political consultant James Carville, who helped elect Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey and U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, once declared that the state was “Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between.” … But the past may no longer be prologue for Pennsylvania. Indeed, much recent polling [...] Read more »
Pennsylvania Doesn’t Hold the ‘Biggest Promise’ for the GOP in 2016
… Pennsylvania voted for President Barack Obama by just 5.4 points—as much as Colorado and less than Obama’s wider victories in battlegrounds like Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Nevada. That margin is partly why Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report believes that Pennsylvania is a “GOP keystone,” representing “the [...] Read more »
Pennsylvania As GOP Keystone In 2016
With all the talk of the importance of the Latino vote to the future of the Republican party, it’s easy to ignore the fact that there are blue states outside of the Southwest that may be bigger and better targets for the GOP in 2016. Pennsylvania represents the biggest promise–and [...] Read more »
Pennsylvania Could Be a Path Forward for G.O.P.
… Pennsylvania alone would not have won the election for Mr. Romney. But if the national climate had been slightly better for him over all, he might have won Ohio and Florida. Winning Pennsylvania as well would have given Mr. Romney the Electoral College, even if he had lost Colorado, [...] Read more »
Is Pennsylvania no longer a swing state?
Although Mitt Romney and Republican super PACs poured $10 million into the state in the closing week of the campaign, the election result was the same as in every presidential contest since 1992 – a Democratic win. “Six in a row is not just a fluke; it is part of [...] Read more »
Mitt’s Pennsylvania Push: Real or Fake?
The Romney campaign seems to have committed to a late push into Pennsylvania, to the derision of Team Obama. The latter sees this as a desperation ploy by a foundering campaign, similar to John McCain’s late entrance into the Keystone State in 2008. Is that right? I don’t think so. [...] Read more »
Romney Has a Problem In Pennsylvania: Math
With just one week before next Tuesday’s presidential election, the Romney campaign has apparently decided to embark on a last-minute effort to win the Keystone State. But while Pennsylvania is always tempting for Republicans, there’s a reason Democrats always seem to win by a slight margin. [cont.] Nate Cohn, The [...] Read more »
What Arlen Specter Taught Us about Party Switching
In 2009, Arlen Specter (R to D-PA) left his political party and made headlines, enemies, and a few friends in the process. He serves as a cautionary tale to those thinking about jumping ship; Specter did not make it past his primary. Our research … helps to illuminate why the [...] Read more »
What’s Wrong With Pennsylvania?
On June 30, 2011, an enthusiastic Mitt Romney arrived here in the heart of the Lehigh Valley determined to make Pennsylvania a presidential battleground state. … A key assumption underpinned Romney’s appearance in Allentown — that the working class whites who once dominated this great industrial center would back the [...] Read more »